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lose nothing of the spectacle he has so long been dreaming of. And now begin the deceptions. The background of eternal verdure that you admired before reaching the city, suddenly disappears to give place to s scorching sun. Streets filled with negroes and ammoniacal effluvia greet the eye and the smell. You then remember that you are treading upon soil where free labor is proscribed as dishonorable. Have the inhabitants gained or lost by the change? That long file of slaves that elbow you, each carrying a bundle upon his head, is the most eloquent reply that can be made. It takes twenty of these wretches to do the work that a single European laborer would perform with his horse and cart. But of what use are such simple means of transport, when one has negroes at his disposal?

The negro is not the only object that excites your wonder. If you walk along the port, you will soon encounter another character not without some analogy in manners and color to the African slave, and which will no less strike your attention; this is the The people venerate this bird as the visible instrument of St. Anthony, the patron saint responsible for the public health; and many people place the lieutenant above the chief. In this land of God, as the Brazilians call it, man—I mean the white man—has only to fold his arms; every thing comes to him from heaven.

What need, then, is there of scavengers and grave-diggers? The urubu supplies their place and necessitates no expense, and that is so much gained. But what is the urubu? It is a winged biped of the vulture family, (coregups urubu,) larger than a crow, shabbily feathered, black, stinking, and verminous, Its municipal functions render it as sacred to the Brazilians as the ibis or ichneumon formerly was to the dwellers on the banks of the Nile. What takes place at Pernambuco or Rio Janeiro perfectly explains what took place at Thebes and Memphis. Every animal that destroyed grasshoppers and crocodiles' eggs, the two scourges of Egypt, was cherished, caressed, and carefully maintained.

In traversing a street or road in Brazil, one ere long finds himself suffocating with pestilential emanations, Soon a black, winged squadron is seen circling around the putrifying carcass of a mule. These are the agents of public health, performing their work. They are so conscientious in doing their duty, that they do not seem to notice the approach of man, and quietly allow themselves to be observed in close proximity. You see them alight one after another upon the carcass, seizing it with their claws and beaks, tearing off nameless fragments, which they carry to a little distance and devour at leisure, while others take their place. This continual going and coming is kept up until the bones are entirely cleaned, There are no cries, no disputes; all passes off in order, as becomes a disciplined band. The feast being ended, the sun and a few flaps of the wings suffice to dissipate the atmosphere of vermin and putrefaction that envelopes them, and they go to take a siesta, or seek another repast elsewhere, if the first was insufficient.

Notwithstanding the privileges that it enjoys, this bird-jackal does not always suffice for the exigencies of the service, If we may believe the newspapers, the inhabitants of the cities are daily obliged to grumble at the inspector of police, for what he cannot help, not yet having at his disposition any electric apparatus that will enable him to transmit his orders to his winged agents. Not that the latter are reluctant at the work—far from that, their gluttony is insatiable^[1] But they are too few in